BBC guidelines for linking – Sept 2010
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Transcript of BBC guidelines for linking – Sept 2010
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Guide to linking on the BBC News website
September 2010
2. Overview3. If you remember nothing else4. Inline links5. Inline links – how to, newspaper
reviews & See Also link blog6. Hypers
7 Newstrackers8 Related stories (see alsos)9 Index alsos10 Related internet links11 Around the BBC
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Linking overview
• Links essential to online journalism
• BBC strategy to double outbound links from 10m to 20m a month by 2013
• Links well suit unique selling point for BBC News: our expertise
• We’re also well placed to link to the best of the web without fear or favour
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If you remember nothing else…
What we used to do…
• Lists of archive news stories
• Homepages only on external websites
• No inline linking in news stories
What we do now – think adding value…
• Avoid news stories and link to useful stuff - analysis, explainers, Q&As, pic galleries etc
• On external websites look beyond homepage to pages of specific relevance
• Inline linking in news stories is OK when it’s to a primary source
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Inline links
• In news stories inline links must go to primary sources only– eg scientific journal article or policy report (1 or 2 per story; avoid intro)
• In features inline links should be of direct editorial relevance but don’t have to be primary sources
• In Q&As and explainers inline links can go to any external or internal content for ‘further reading’ or adding value
• It must be obvious to the reader which bit is a link, and what it’s going to. Don’t refer to paywalls or registration; don’t say “click here”.
• The text must be capable of standing alone - the reader shouldn’t have to click the link to understand the sentence
• When linking externally, deep-link to a directly relevant web page, not a website homepage
• In blogs different rules can apply – speak to blogs team if in doubt.
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Inline links – how to, Q&As, newspaper reviews & See Also link blog
• To insert an inline link in CPS V6 highlight the words you want to be the link, hover over them, right click on your mouse and select ‘inline link’
• Every Q+A should from now on have a final question: "Where can I find more about this on the web?" with some links to primary sources or helpful sites, or even where appropriate our own content
• In newspaper reviews, the link text should include the newspaper name, the active verb and something about the story, eg
The Guardian obtained video footage of the incident and has gathered statements from 15 witnesses who saw Ian Tomlinson before he collapsed. It says their accounts contradict the official version given by police. The Daily Telegraph says pressure will be mounting to identify and suspend the officer pending an investigation.
• Reviews of opinion on a particular subject can be put on the See Also blog (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/seealso/). Contact Clare Spencer.
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Hypers Hypers
• Maximum 12 links
• Think: What will add most to readers' understanding? • Analysis, explainer, profile, eyewitness feature, pic gallery
etc, whether in text, video, audio, graphics etc
• Avoid archive news stories that don’t add value
• Top section must be selection of best available content, not just latest news stories
• Always use mini hyper, which auto-displays top 4 links • Place as high as possible, preferably so it’s in top screenful
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Newstracker
• A Newstracker module should go on every news story, and features if appropriate
• It updates automatically, so even if it shows empty it is worth leaving on
• To add Newstracker in CPS, go to Extras > Story Promos panel on right and select “Add News Tracker” button
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See alsos/ related stories
Related stories (aka see alsos)
• Think: What will add most to readers' understanding?• Analysis, explainer, profile, eyewitness feature, pic gallery
etc, whether in text, video, audio, graphics etc
• Avoid archive news stories
• Maximum six
• Always use mini see-also box except on smallest stories• Place as high as possible, preferably so it’s in top screenful • Takes top 1-3 links (you choose how many) – make sure
they’re good
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Index alsos
Index alsos
• Best of the best from see alsos
• Normally three maximum• Go over three only on biggest stories & when picture
deep enough
• Remember, second and third story slots on indexes now allow display of index alsos
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Related internet links
Make more of related internet links
• No longer just homepages
• Deep link to directly relevant web pages
• Think further reading and adding value• Analysis, comment, academia, reports, blogs -
stuff you see and use when writing story
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Around the BBC
Around the BBC
• Maximum four
• Automatically processed from links selected for see alsos
• Choose most relevant internal non-News sites